I was super pleased with this recipe tonight: it was delicious, and both my girls ate bok choy without complaint, and Olivia almost said she liked it. I love bok choy and would make it MUCH more often if others agreed. Post-supper, I was out of the house tonight and when I came home, the whole house still smelled of fish sauce. Maybe not so good. From March 2014's Chatelaine: Chicken & Bok Choy with Crunchy Shallots.
Chicken & Bok Choy with Crunchy Shallots
Cover 125 g fine rice-vermicelli noodles with boiling water in a large bowl. Let stand, stirring frequently, until tender, 5 to 7 min. Drain. Return to bowl.
Dice 2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts. Combine with 3 tbsp brown sugar, 2 tbsp light soy sauce, 1 tbsp fish sauce and 1 tsp hot chili-garlic sauce in a medium bowl. Stir to coat. Heat a very large non-stick pan over medium-high. Add 2 tsp canola oil, then chicken, reserving marinade. Cook until chicken is no longer pink, 2 to 3 min. Move chicken to sides of pan and add 10 baby bok choy, halved lengthwise. Cook, stirring often, until tender-crisp, 2 to 3 min. Transfer chicken and bok choy to a platter.
Add noodles to pan along with reserved marinade. Cook until heated through, at least 2 min. Divide among 4 plates. Top with chicken and bok choy and any liquid. Sprinkle 1/3 cup fried shallots over the plates and serve with a wedge of lime.
Makes 4 servings.
A couple notes: the recipe called for 10 baby bok choy, halved. I find they come in such varying sizes, you have to play this one by ear. I bought 8 (shout out to Farm Boy, who sells them in bulk!) and probably could have bought less, but I do love bok choy and I'll eat them all myself. I split them into leaves, then sliced up the bigger leaves. I fried them in two batches, for 6 minutes each. That almost doubled the overall cook time. Plan accordingly!
The recipe called for packaged fried shallots. I couldn't find these, nor do I imagine they are very good for you, so I made my own: I diced up shallots and lightly fried them in olive oil, then sprinkled panko crumbs on top and fried a few minutes more, then salted and peppered. Delicious.
I wrote about this meal a few years ago, but as with many of my older posts, the recipe link no longer works, so I'll include it here again; this one comes from January 2010's Chatelaine:
Spicy Peanut, Tofu and Spinach Stir-Fry
1/2 cup (125 mL) orange juice
1/3 cup (75 mL) all-natural peanut butter
1/3 cup (75 mL) teriyaki sauce
1 1/2 tbsp (20 mL) hot chili-garlic sauce OR 1 1/2 tsp (7 mL) sriracha sauce
350-g pkg President's Choice teriyaki-flavoured tofu*
1 red pepper
6-oz (170-g) bag baby spinach
In a small bowl, whisk juice with peanut butter, teriyaki and chili-garlic sauce until mixed. Set aside. Slice tofu and red pepper into thin strips. If using teriyaki-flavoured tofu, add leftover teriyaki sauce in package to sauce mixture.
Lightly coat a large frying pan with oil and set over medium-high heat. When hot, add tofu and pepper. Gently stir-fry until tofu is hot and pepper is tender, 3 to 5 min. Don’t worry if tofu breaks a bit. Stir in sauce and spinach. Remove from heat and stir until spinach is just wilted. Serve over cooked couscous, boiled quinoa or steamed rice.**
Makes 4 servings.
*Can also used plain tofu, firm or extra-firm
**I made President's Choice bulgur quinoa blend for the side dish. This has become one of my favourite sides and I often make it in place of rice or quinoa.
Unlike my picture from a few years ago, I now slice up the tofu and pepper in smaller strips than the original recipe calls for. I like it this way better.
Another one from Mama's Christmas-present cookbook: Chicken Noodle Stir-fry. Stir-fries always pretend they're going to be simple, but can be tricky. This one, for instance, called for slicing the baby bok choy in half lengthwise. I did, thought they still looked too big, but left them. Sure enough, I later had to pull them out of the hot pan to cut them smaller, because they weren't cooking properly. Go with your gut, Kirsten.
I bought two packs of Mr. Noodles for the ramen noodles called for in the recipe. I was really excited about this, as I used to loooove Mr. Noodles, but wow, they kind of suck. They taste on the processed side. Next time, will try to source out good quality ramen noodles. Does this exist?
The recipe was good, though, don't get me wrong. All three of us enjoyed supper tonight. A few tweaks, and I'll definitely make it again.
My mom received a cookbook for Christmas this year: Best Recipes Ever (from the combined forces of CBC and Canadian Living). When I was home post-Christmas, I spent a few hours flipping through this cookbook and identifying recipes to make. Conveniently, they are online! They appear to be basic recipes that won't leave me frustrated and just might be delicious. Tonight I made the first one: Beef & Broccoli Stir-fry. This recipe comes together in about 10 minutes, so get everything prepped in advance and you are good to go. It was, as hoped, simple and tasty. I recommend cutting up the broccoli a bit, as some of the bigger pieces in my stir-fry were still raw-hard. Otherwise, yum. I also used ginger purée rather than fresh gingerroot, so reduced the amount from 1 tbsp to 1 tsp. Perfect. Served with mushroom fried rice.
I'm not a big stir-fry fan. They are quick and convenient but I almost always toss any stir-fry recipe I try. Tonight's was a pleasant surprise, in that case, as it was better than expected. I might try it again, and if I do, I think I'll double the sauce for extra yumminess. From October 2011's Chatelaine: Basil chicken with mixed Asian vegetables. I used fresh veggies, not frozen. I recommend chopping the basil small.
